Black Thought

The Roots MC on his new memoir, artistic growth, and loss

- SIMON VOZICK-LEVINSON

In your new memoir, you write that you were “an introverted kid.” Would you still describe yourself that way now? 

Yes, definitely. Sometimes to a fault. It’s a gift and a curse. Through that introversion and in that pause, I’m able to answer the call: That’s where the ideation takes place, and that’s where the imagination kicks in. If I always had that outside stimulus of interacting with actual people, I don’t know that I would be as deep a thinker or as in tune with myself as I am. But the opposite side of the coin is the social expense.

People might assume that someone who’s as comfortable on the mic as you would love talking to people.

One would think that. I’m not comfortable being in front of people or sharing myself with the world, but I understand the necessity of it. It’s a means to an end.

You just turned 50. How did you celebrate?